State v. Adams, 2012 Ohio 5979

Adams was indicted in November 2009 for eight counts of rape, first-degree felonies.
In October 2011, a plea agreement was reached; Adams entered an Alford plea to all eight counts with a 15-year aggregate recommendation.
Shortly after entering the plea, Adams moved pre-sentence to withdraw the plea, alleging lack of time to consider and public humiliation.
The trial court denied the motion to withdraw and later denied a reconsideration.
Sentencing proceeded, and Adams received 15 years total (three years per count; counts 1–5 consecutive, counts 6–8 concurrent).
Adams timely appealed challenging the pre-sentence withdrawal decision.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the pre-sentence withdrawal	State argues no abuse; no substantial prejudice to State	Adams asserts time, understanding, and publicity issues mandate withdrawal	Yes; trial court abused discretion; plea vacated and remanded

State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (1992) (pre-sentence withdrawal standards; no formulaic guidelines; liberal standard)
State v. Veney, 120 Ohio St.3d 176 (2008) (Crim.R. 11 compliance; substantial compliance with nonconstitutional advisements)
State v. Nero, 56 Ohio St.3d 106 (1990) (substantial compliance standard for Crim.R. 11 nonconstitutional rights)
State v. Sarkozy, 117 Ohio St.3d 86 (2008) (postrelease control advisement and related considerations)
State v. Piacella, 27 Ohio St.2d 92 (1971) (Alford plea voluntariness and understanding of charges)
State v. Cuthbertson, 139 Ohio App.3d 895 (2000) (Fish factors guiding pre-sentence withdrawal decisions)